1. Field of the Invention
The Invention is a tray for use in serving beverages, particularly alcoholic beverages, in a tavern, nightclub or casino. The Invention has particular application for serving beverages using the Dry Ice Drinking Vessel of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/957,983 and 10/645,019 both by Nielsen, which applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in full herein, application Ser. No. 10,645,019 is now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,694 to Nielsen, which is incorporated by reference as if set forth in full herein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For purposes of this application, any facility that serves alcoholic beverages by the drink is referred to as a “nightclub.” A server in a nightclub may use a tray to carry a plurality of individual servings of alcoholic beverages. For example, the server may place shot glasses on a tray, fill the shot glasses from a beverage bottle, and then carry the tray with the filled shot glasses to patrons.
U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/957,983 and 10/645,019 (and issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,694) teach a tray having lights directed through the shot glasses to illuminate the shot glasses and the beverages in the glasses. Those applications and patent also teach a Dry Ice Drinking Vessel in which dry ice may be segregated within a drinking vessel while allowing the beverage to contact the dry ice. As used in this application, the term “Dry Ice Drinking Vessel” means drinking vessels for use with dry ice as taught by U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/957,983 and 10/645,019 and by issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,694. The sublimation of the dry ice by heat from the beverage causes a boiling, smoking visual effect. Lighting of the drinking vessel by the tray enhances the visual effect, making the beverage more appealing to a patron of the nightclub.